University Research Strategic Alliance (USRA)

Call for Research Proposals
Letter of Intent Due May 1, 2013
Full Proposal Due June 3, 2013

The mission of the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research (OVCR) is to cultivate innovation and research growth, promote the ethical and responsible conduct of research, and serve the Washington University research community. One goal of the OVCR is to foster new interdisciplinary collaborations that result in innovative research. To further this aim, the Vice Chancellor for Research has initiated the third round of the internal funding program called the University Research Strategic Alliance (URSA).

The URSA Program will provide up to six awards, with a value of up to $25,000 each, for seed funding for new interdisciplinary collaborative research projects to full-time faculty at Washington University. URSA is soliciting proposals that include a new collaboration between two faculty investigators from different disciplines working together to approach a problem in an innovative way. The goal is to promote collaborations that build on different scientific and scholarly backgrounds to facilitate breakthroughs in solving research questions and spawn new research which is competitive for extramural support. Disciplinary diversity and representation from different schools or discipline-disparate departments will be a primary consideration in funding decisions. Faculty from all departments and schools are invited to submit proposals.

PROPOSAL GUIDELINES
Imaginative and innovative research proposals are sought under the following general guidelines.

1. Novel Collaborative Team: Each proposal must be submitted with two Co-Principal Investigators from different disciplines and departments who have not previously co-authored any publications or had joint funding. Preference may be given to proposals that include PIs from two different schools and proposals that include junior faculty. There may be no more than two PIs per proposal. PIs must be full time faculty at Washington University.
2. Investigative Scope: Identify short and long term aims of the project. How will the investigation broaden understanding of research problems, yield fresh insights, or increase sophistication of theoretical, methodological or analytical approaches of two or more research disciplines?
3. Innovation: Identify how the proposed project represents novel research at Washington University. Explain how disparate research approaches and/or methodologies will be integrated to create innovative or enhanced research outcomes.
4. Sustainability: Show clear plans for sustainability by identifying potential future funding and/or how this seed funding can pave the way to position the team to compete for external funding sources and opportunities.
   

LETTER OF INTENT DUE DATE: May 1, 2013
A letter of intent is strongly advised, but not required. Letters are requested in order to anticipate the number of proposals and to begin to solicit appropriate reviewers. Submitting a letter of intent is not a binding requirement of full proposal submission.

LETTER OF INTENT PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS
This document must be sent elecronically as a single PDF by 11:59 p.m. on May 1, 2013 to: langton@wustl.edu

The letter of intent must include:
1. Proposal Title
2. Two Co-Principal Investigators: name, school affiliation (primary appointment), department (primary appointment), and contact information.
3. Brief description of the proposal (no more than one page, single spaced).

FULL PROPOSALS are due June 3, 2013. Please see the attachment or go to http://research.wustl.edu/PGC/Funding/Documents/URSA_2013_RFA_FINAL.pdf for full proposal insructions and review criteria.

APPLICATION RECEIPT NOTICE: You will receive an e-mail response confirming receipt. If you do not receive it within two business days, contact Laura Langton at: langton@wustl.edu

ANTICIPATED NOTIFICATION OF SELECTED PROPOSALS: Mid July 2013

ANTICIPATED PROPOSAL/RESEARCH START DATE: September 2013

For questions relating to application guidelines and/or programmatic activities, please contact Laura Langton at langton@wustl.edu (314-747-1378).

Attachments and other information related to this message can be found at:
http://intramed.wustl.edu/r.nsf/0/0E481E4D864A948986257B420057BDA8